~ A blog dedicated to honoring and saving the Grand Staircase at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Oregon.

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Evensong

It’s graduation week at Eastern Oregon University, so of course that means it’s Evensong week for Friends of the Grand Staircase…

Day one: The Queen of Knowledge and her court in Grecian gowns – 1967.

Day two: Rehearsal -1968

Day three: The Audience 1954 or ’55 – sitting on wooden chairs, folding metal chairs, and lawn chairs on a closed off 9th Street.

Day four: The Queen and her court descend the Grand Staircase to the middle landing where they will preside over Evensong – (1970 Queen Karen Ceniga escorted by senior class president Clinton Shultz who is also helping with the Torch of Knowledge).

Day five: As dusk falls the pageant of song begins – 1956

Day six: As the program ends, the graduates light their candles from the Queen’s Torch of Knowledge and go out into the world to share the “light of learning.” (1952)

The Grand Staircase at Eastern Oregon University was designed by Oregon architect John Bennes and completed in 1929. Sadly, it has deteriorated over the decades and was closed to public use in 2004.

In 2015, the Grand Staircase was added to Restore Oregon’s Most Endangered Places List. In November of that year it was determined that the staircase was too far deteriorated for restoration to be a viable option, however efforts are underway to fund reconstruction.

We believe that the Grand Staircase has great potential as a cultural heritage tourism attraction and, as a result, could help boost the economy of La Grande and eastern Oregon. Even now, deteriorating and no longer opened to the public, it is an architectural treasure worth seeing. Reconstructed it could offer even more.

We started this blog and the accompanying Facebook page to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase and its architectural significance, post photographs and information of historical interest about the staircase, provide updates on the efforts to save our beloved “college steps” and share the stories and memories of those who love the staircase as much as we do.

To see a pictorial history of the staircase please visit our About page.

If you have any questions or have Grand Staircase memories, stories, or photos you would like to share please contact us at savethegrandstaircase@gmail.com.

We found this wonderful picture postcard of the Grand Staircase on eBay. How cool is that?

The Grand Staircase at Eastern Oregon University was designed by Oregon architect John Bennes and completed in 1929. Sadly, it has deteriorated over the decades and was closed to public use in 2004.

In 2015, the Grand Staircase was added to Restore Oregon’s Most Endangered Places List. In November of that year it was determined that the staircase was too far deteriorated for restoration to be a viable option, however efforts are underway to fund reconstruction.

We believe that the Grand Staircase has great potential as a cultural heritage tourism attraction and, as a result, could help boost the economy of La Grande and eastern Oregon. Even now, deteriorating and no longer opened to the public, it is an architectural treasure worth seeing. Reconstructed it could offer even more.

We started this blog and the accompanying Facebook page to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase and its architectural significance, post photographs and information of historical interest about the staircase, provide updates on the efforts to save our beloved “college steps” and share the stories and memories of those who love the staircase as much as we do.

To see a pictorial history of the staircase please visit our About page.

If you have any questions or have Grand Staircase memories, stories, or photos you would like to share please contact us at savethegrandstaircase@gmail.com

Well, we may have just solved the mystery! We recently stumbled across a 15 Oct, 1953 Observer article entitled 25 years progress at EOC Told by Member of Original Faculty.

The faculty member was John M. Miller who was, at the time the article was written, the director of teacher education at EOU (EOC in those days).

In the interview Professor Miller recalled the first Evensong and described how faculty and students brought in greenery to enhance an otherwise rather barren landscape.

If the Amazing Appearing and Disappearing Tree could be considered “greenery”, that just might explain where it came from and why it didn’t stay. It would also explain the appearance and disappearance of the smaller, but significant nonetheless, trees on the hillside on either side of the staircase. If this is, indeed, what happened, we’re pretty impressed with the effort all of this must have taken!

What do you think? Did we solve the mystery?

All photos in this post courtesy EOU Pierce Library

The Grand Staircase at Eastern Oregon University was designed by Oregon architect John Bennes and completed in 1929. Sadly, it has deteriorated over the decades and was closed to public use in 2004.

We believe that the Grand Staircase has great potential as a cultural heritage tourism attraction and, as a result, could help boost the economy of La Grande and eastern Oregon. Even now, deteriorating and no longer opened to the public, it is an architectural treasure worth seeing. Reconstructed it could offer even more.

We started this blog and the accompanying Facebook page to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase and its architectural significance, post photographs and information of historical interest about the staircase, provide updates on the efforts to save our beloved “college steps” and share the stories and memories of those who love the staircase as much as we do.

To see a pictorial history of the staircase please visit our About page.

If you have any questions or have Grand Staircase memories, stories, or photos you would like to share please contact us at savethegrandstaircase@gmail.com.

When Eastern Oregon University (then Eastern Oregon Normal School) officially opened its doors in June 1929, 200 men and women signed up for classes. In the process they no doubt spent some time pouring over the 1929 – 30 EONS catalog.

In the page from the catalog shown above (image courtesy of EOU Pierce Library) English professors Amanda Zabel and Lena Foley stand in front of a sweep of Grand Staircase balusters.

Note: Eastern Oregon University’s Zabel Hall, home to the College of Education and the College of Business (built in 1974), was named for Professor Zabel. Dr. Zabel, who taught both English and Drama, was a beloved teacher and an active participant in the annual Evensong production on the staircase each spring.

Fall classes at EOU begin in just a week and a half (September 26th). Everyone have a great term!

The Grand Staircase at Eastern Oregon University was designed by Oregon architect John Bennes and completed in 1929. Sadly, it has deteriorated over the decades and was closed to public use in 2004.

We believe that the Grand Staircase has great potential as a cultural heritage tourism attraction and, as a result, could help boost the economy of La Grande and eastern Oregon. Even now, deteriorating and no longer opened to the public, it is an architectural treasure worth seeing. Reconstructed it could offer even more.

We started this blog and the accompanying Facebook page to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase and its architectural significance, post photographs and information of historical interest about the staircase, provide updates on the efforts to save our beloved “college steps” and share the stories and memories of those who love the staircase as much as we do.

To see a pictorial history of the staircase please visit our About page.

If you have any questions or have Grand Staircase memories, stories, or photos you would like to share please contact us at savethegrandstaircase@gmail.com.

We started this blog and the accompanying Facebook page to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase and its architectural significance, post photographs and information of historical interest about the staircase, and share the stories and memories of those who love the staircase as much as we do.

To see a pictorial history of the staircase please visit our About page.

If you have any questions or have Grand Staircase memories, stories, or photos you would like to share please contact us at savethegrandstaircase@gmail.com.